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Miss Russia 2022 Anna Linnikova has become one of 16 contestants who will vie for the title of Miss Universe. The semifinals of the pageant were broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Miss Universe Organization. Linnikova, 22, wore the national "The Crown of the Russian Empire" dress during the preliminary competition on Wednesday where 84 contenders were taking part. The red and white gown decorated with pearls and precious stones was designed by a St. Petersburg couturier in cooperation with the State Hermitage museum. The finals of the beauty pageant in which the top beauties will be picked from...

A leading Ukrainian presidential aide claimed this morning that the explosion which damaged a key bridge in Crimea may have been ordered by one of Vladimir Putin's warring commanders. The 12 mile crossing over the Kerch strait links Crimea to the Russian mainland and is a major artery for Putin's forces that control most of southern Ukraine's Kherson region and for the Russian naval port of Sevastopol. It was damaged in an explosion early Saturday morning which saw chunks of the bridge fall into the sea and a large fire break out. The incident prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials...

Russian-installed officials in occupied regions of Ukraine reported huge majorities on Tuesday in favour of becoming part of Russia after five days of voting in so-called referendums that Kyiv and the West denounced as a sham. Hastily arranged votes had taken place in four areas - the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and to the south Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - that make up about 15% of Ukrainian territory. Luhansk authorities said 98.4% of people there had voted to join Russia. In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian-appointed official put the figure at 93.1%. In Kherson, the head of the voting committee put...

A series of unusual leaks on two natural gas pipelines running from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany triggered concerns about sabotage Tuesday, overshadowing the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster Europe’s energy independence from Moscow. Seismic stations Sweden, Norway and Finland registered two explosions Monday near the leaks. Bjorn Lund, a seismologist with Uppsala University who is part of Sweden’s national seismic network, said the first explosion was recorded in the early hours southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. The latter and stronger blast that night was northeast of...

Ukraine recaptured the city of Izium on Saturday, giving hope that the tide might finally be turning decisively against the Russian invaders. Not only are Russian forces in retreat, Vladimir Putin is facing increased criticism at home. There is even evidence of the Kremlin engaging in damage control to manage the domestic narrative.Still, we should not allow ourselves to be carried away by Ukraine’s recent success. Russia still has cards to play.In the build-up to the escalation in the south around the Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russia redeployed much of its forces to that region. In the process of doing...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refused peace talks with Russia just days prior to the war, according to reports.Zelensky's adamant refusal to accept German-brokered peace talks with Russia, which ultimately resulted in large-scale killings and massive destruction in Ukraine, has earned him brickbats from people across the globe.As per the report published in the Wall Street Journal, it is evident that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had extended an offer for peace days before Russia launched the attack on Ukraine but the Ukrainian President did not pay any heed.

Russian occupying forces deployed helicopters and weapons in search for deserters near the village of Babenivka Druha, in Kherson Oblast, in order to ensure their return to combat positions. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Quote: "The morale and the psychological condition of [soldiers in] the occupying units [of the Russian Armed Forces] have considerably deteriorated, and instances of desertion have become more common, due to significant losses [sustained by the Russian army] and a lack of willingness to participate in combat. The enemy was forced to deploy helicopters and weapons in search for deserters and in...

Work behind the enemy continues! In the southern direction, while conducting special reconnaissance in the temporarily occupied territory, a combat group of the MTR of Ukraine came across an enemy position. The Russian armored personnel carriers and personnel of the invaders found there were destroyed instantly in a matter of minutes. After that, the operators of the MTR of Ukraine division went on, continuing to perform their main task.

During the UN Security Council meeting, Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said that in order to save the lives of both Ukrainian and Russian citizens, the Russian Federation has only one course of action: surrender and withdraw. Quote: "By launching its aggression against Ukraine in 2014, by invading Ukraine in February 2022 Russia has violated the norms and principles of practically all fundamental international documents, including bilateral and multilateral agreements, the Helsinki Final Act and, first and foremost, the UN Charter." "Not a single state present in this Chamber, besides Russia, is responsible for the Council’s inability...

Ukraine may have captured a Russian general in what would be the highest-ranking of Moscow's officers to be taken prisoner since the Second World War. Video published Wednesday revealed a group of Russian POWs detained by Ukraine amid a surprise counter-attack near the city of Kharkiv, among them a man wearing the uniform of a mid-ranking Lieutenant-Colonel. But Ukrainian media now claims the man is 'likely' to be Andrei Sychevoi, who is actually a high-ranking Lieutenant-General and commander of Russia's Group of Forces West.

Russia has given up on rebuilding bridges destroyed by Ukraine in the Kherson counteroffensive, a Kremlin-installed leader of the occupied southern region said on Tuesday. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed military-civilian regional administration, told Russian state-owned news agency Tass that it does not make sense for Russia to restore the Antonovsky Bridge, which has been targeted for weeks by Ukraine. "So far, no one is restoring the Antonovsky Bridge, because there is no point, there is no expediency," he said. Stremousov said that the key bridge, as well as a bridge in Nova Kakhovka, are completely closed at...

Just before 11 a.m. Moscow Standard Time on March 1, after a night of Russian strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, a set of Russian-language Twitter accounts spread a lie that Ukraine was fabricating civilian casualties. (snip) Late last month, the network of accounts shifted to focus almost exclusively on Ukraine, echoing similar narratives and content across accounts and platforms. A popular post by the account @QR_Kod accused the Ukrainian military of using civilians as human shields. Another post by @QR_Kod portrayed Ukraine as provoking Russia at the behest of its NATO masters. Both tweets received hundreds of likes...

You gotta see this... Making an art form out of messing people's minds... Roughly, 'This winter's going to be really serious, see ya in the spring.....' А зима будет большая, Вот, гляди-ка, за рекой Осень тихо умирает, Машет желтою рукой. Плачут мокрые осины, Плачет дедушка Aрбат, Плачет синяя Россия, Превратившись в листопад. И, сугробы сокрушая, Солнце брызнет по весне, А зима будет большая - Только сумерки да снег.

Last night Politico Europe published an interesting story about where Russia is starting to feel the pinch as it tries to keep its war machine going. Despite sanctions, Russia has managed to keep selling lots of oil and that has kept its economy from collapsing. But while it has lots of cash on hand it’s not so easy to import supplies of high tech chips that are needed for its weapons of war. In order to find those parts, Russia has put together a shopping list.Having fired off (or lost in combat) way more of their missile firepower than they...